Found cheap 37" tires

[cmhaah06]

I was directed to a site called 100dollarman and found he sells used military everything. The tires I'm looking at are the radial 37 x 12.5" goodyear wrangler mt's. I rode around on these in Iraq. They ride well and they were pretty good at getting us through the, umm.... well, muck (cause sometimes what we thought was mud was not).

Does anybody have any experience with these on the trail in rocks? I recently watched a 4x4 video of the dusy ershim trail where one of the guys was running these tires. Seemed to do well, but first hand accounts are always better.

I guess the real reason why I'm looking at these is because I want to step up in tire size and 35's arent to expensive but I can get a set of these for the price of two brand new 35" BFG's. So, besides the fact that I know people will say it is going to kill the front axle, any other reason why not to go this route? Brunopedra is running 37's with the stock front axle, 4.88's and the a4ld. He seems to be doing fine. Thoughts and opinions on this idea.

 

[Brian1]

They suck for rocks. It is a hard compound and the sidewalls are not very strong. They are also for 16.5" rims which are famous for losing the bead at low pressures for rockcrawling, you will need to run a beadlock or get really good at remounting the bead assuming you airdown for wheeling.

 

[Blee1099]

Yup.. rock hard compound and very little side sidewall..

 

[FIND]

carry cans of ether

 

[jd4242]

xeek just bought a set too.i run 36x14.50 with 4.88 and a4ld

 

[Backwoods "X"]

Hey JD242. For those Hummer tires and some street legal beadlock wheels, try going over to the DRMO over at Oceana, if it is still there.... I used to get stuff from there and over at Little Creek.

 

[jd4242]

I run pjs on dc2

 

[cmhaah06]

Other than a stiff compound and popping beads, this doesn't sound so bad. Popping beads is an easy fix. I used to mount these tires with long crow bars. Ether would definitely make it easier but bead locks are the easiet route. So as far as the front axle is concerned, would the dana 44 knuckle swap solve some strength issues?

jd4242 - how do you like the 36's with 488's? What kind of wheeling do you do?

xeek - Are you there? Your running these hummer 37's? What do you think about them?

 

[Backwoods "X"]

I don't think that the knuckle swap would help overly much, other than the larger bolt pattern to help spread the hub centered weight out some. If you think about it, the knuckle swap gains you bigger brakes, a better lockout design ( makes it almost worth it right there...), and a different bolt pattern that you now have to match on the rear. The Ujoint is the same between the D35/D44, so, there is no strength gain there, and you now move the weak point of the axle assembly to the splines inside the diff.

 

[jd4242]

I think it would help alot and if you use the spicer ujoints i think it will well just fine.they also make cromemolly shafts.

 

[jd4242]

good thread
http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/May06/dana35_ujoint_snapring.htm

 

[jd4242]

jd4242 - how do you like the 36's with 488's? What kind of wheeling do you do?

i wish i went to 5.13 or whatever the next size up is.i had 4.88 and 33s and loved them,didnt plan on going this big of a tire or would have.i have heard they have problems with those gears in the d35 though.4.88 and 35 is about perfect but i like that extra tq and get up and go.as of right now i only do 2 wheeling!!!hahaha i havent done the front gears yethere is my thread on my tires to give you an idea of looks.ps you will need atleast 9" of lift to clear 37s without trimming or rubbing
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=306177

 

[zzzac]

"The main key thing here is the axle benefits of the 35/44 hybrid. So you have ½ ton outers meaning you have better hubs, wheel bearing spacing, larger rotors and calipers then on the 35. Shaft wise you have a stronger shaft assemble then a 44. The only shaft of a 35 that has a smaller diameter then that of the neck on 44 shafts is the stub shaft. By running 44 stubs you eliminate this. Granted the 35 shafts taper down to 27 spline that goes into the side gears but this minor diameter is still greater then that of the neck on a 44. And as we all know a chain is only as strong as the weakest link, the weak link of a 44 being the neck."

 

[cmhaah06]

After recently going on a good trail run and seeing that I need more clearance, I've decided that I want to try this. A friend was trying to convince me to find some solid axles for a conversion. I was almost going to jump into it when I thought, I could save money now by using what I got. I thought I would try to make these axles last as long as possible so I could save for a set of dana 60's. So, this will be the major project this year. Only problem is that I recently injured my knee on the job, so extra money is going to be little to none for at least a couple more weeks, possibly months. I hope not though, I hate working in the office. Thanks for the info and advice.

 

[Xeek]

sorry, forgot to answer. i do have the 37x12.5 goodyear radial military oz tires, bought them for my f350. i havent gotten them mounted yet. waiting on money to get the right wheels for them. but from what ive heard they arent to bad, just very thick and stiff.
the f350 is a dd and gonna see the beach every now and then with a little less air. so i dont really care to get rock crawling tires.